After a steamy encounter with Asgard's Dark Prince unlocks her genetics, an unsuspecting scientist discovers not only are Gods real, she is one.
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When Shannon boards her flight to London, she's stunned her seatmate is actor Tod Mogroddine. Their...
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Frigga walked me to the start of the rainbow bridge at the edge of the city, just outside the palace gates. It hadn't been a long walk, but far enough for her to tell me a few amusing tales of raising Loki and Thor. It made me wonder why only Loki was considered a trickster, when clearly the brothers had gotten into plenty of trouble together.
"So Loki couldn't turn them back to their own bodies?" I asked, imagining the two boys running around as wolf pups.
Frigga smiled. "No, he hadn't mastered that yet, and he'd used a spell on both Thor and himself, instead of his own innate shape-shifting abilities. It meant he couldn't turn back, and he hadn't looked up the counter-spell before the two of them decided to go romping around what is now Italy on Midgard. Apparently, Thor wanted to play with the Midgardians."
I laughed. "That must have been quite the sight."
"I think Heimdall got considerable amusement out of it before he let me know what the boys were up to. Both pups were exhausted, covered in honey, dirt, and olive leaves, asleep in some goat shepherd's paddock when I went to retrieve them." With a wave of her arm, Frigga projected an image into the air of two wolf pups, one black and grey, the other red and brown, curled up together in a pile of straw, while goats tugged at the straw, eating. Sure enough, I could see sticky patches of fur with straw, dirt, and leaves stuck to them, especially around their muzzles and paws.
"Aww... they were adorable!"
"Too adorable! I had a hard time not laughing at their mischief when I needed to be firm with them. Just you wait and see." Wrapping her arms around me, she hugged me tight. "I'm so glad to have met you, Shannon. It makes me unbelievably happy to have you in our family. At the same time, I get a daughter and grandchild."
My mouth opened to reply, but I wasn't sure what to say. I appreciated Frigga's warm acceptance, yet it was all so new. Previously, I'd thought my biggest concern was figuring out what it meant to be a goddess. Now, I was starting to freak out about the idea of being a mother. She made it sound wonderful. The ground kept shifting underneath me every time I thought I'd caught my balance. Suddenly, I had a baby and a new Asgardian family to consider.
"Don't worry, child. Go deal with that wayward son of mine. Odin and I would love to have you join us for a meal when you are free to come back. Heimdall will open the bifrost for you whenever you ask him to."
"Oh... umm... Thank you. Yes, I'd like to meet Odin." Nerves jittered in my stomach at the thought of meeting the All-Father, but if Frigga was there, I figured it couldn't be that bad. From her comments, it didn't appear there was a huge falling out between Loki and Odin as there'd been in the movies, and mythology seemed to vary in that regard, but he was still the All-Father. That was intimidating enough. As long as no one ended up tied to a rock with poison dripping onto them, I could probably survive a family meal.
She smiled as she released me and stepped back.
Making my way along the bridge, the energy thrummed beneath my feet. It was different from the energies I was familiar with now from manipulating the natural elements. Different, but with a fluttering in my stomach, there was still something about it I recognized. I just couldn't pin it down. I wondered why I hadn't noticed it on my earlier journey across with Thor. Lost in thought, it didn't take me long to reach the impressive stone arched structure and Heimdall.
